


I Could Go Anywhere With You and I'd Probably Be Happy

by vinegar-and-glitter (vinegarandglitter)



Series: The Desperate Type [18]
Category: Dear Evan Hansen - Pasek & Paul/Levenson
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Not a Bucket List, TDT-verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-17
Updated: 2019-01-17
Packaged: 2019-10-11 12:50:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17447333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vinegarandglitter/pseuds/vinegar-and-glitter
Summary: After Evan's hit with an unexpected bout of senior year FOMO, he and Connor put together a (not bucket) list of things to do before they graduate college.Like most things in life, it doesn't turn out exactly as they planned.‘The Desperate Type’ universe.





	I Could Go Anywhere With You and I'd Probably Be Happy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [chchchchcherrybomb](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chchchchcherrybomb/gifts).



> Happy Fluff-a-versary to the fandom love of my life, @chchchchcherrybomb! This fic is to celebrate a whole year of our friendship, from the first time I messaged you on Tumblr to the adorably heartwarming friendship we have now. 
> 
> Honestly, I love the fucking shit out of you. I love writing with you, I love talking to you, I love that you've become one of my closest friends and that this fandom brought us together. 
> 
> This fic is for you and I hope you like it.

 

_And you said_

_"This is the first day of my life_

_I'm glad I didn't die before I met you_

_But now I don't care, I could go anywhere with you_

_And I'd probably be happy."_

_\- Bright Eyes, First Day of My Life_

 

* * *

**Early October: The List**

 

It all starts when Evan’s roommate Tom finds himself unexpectedly single.

 

Peter had been a year ahead of them and despite his initial insistence that he and Tom could make it work long distance, a month into their senior year Peter had called it off in a dramatic phone call with a healthy dose of “it’s not you, it’s me”.

 

Evan has to admit, he kind of saw that one coming. Not because he doesn’t believe long distance relationships can’t work, but because Tom and Peter had broken up and gotten back together twice since junior year.

 

Also, he doesn’t like to admit it, but Evan’s never really liked Peter. He’d much preferred Tom’s previous boyfriend Oscar who he’d dated up until sophomore year.

 

In the immediate aftermath of the breakup, Evan spends three nights in a row watching 90s horror movies and eating pints of Ben and Jerry’s with his heartbroken roommate. The ice cream he understands, the horror movies seem to be a Tom-specific break-up coping mechanism.

 

Connor joins them on the second night, after Tom promises that seeing Evan and Connor together isn’t going to make him sadder. Evan’s not a fan of horror films (at all) but he has to admit that Connor and Tom’s running commentary about everything from the outfits to the sheer stupidity of the characters is entertaining.

 

On night three, Tom brings a bottle of vodka and decides to make a drinking game out of Urban Legend by taking shots every time someone does something stupid. They’re not even a half an hour into the film when Tom’s already completely wasted and crying, which Evan can tell is making Connor a little uncomfortable.

 

“I just really thought it was going to work out between us,” says Tom around about the time the guy from Dawson’s Creek meets his untimely demise.

 

“I know you did,” says Evan sympathetically. “I’m sorry.”

 

He looks over at Connor briefly and catches his eye, then mouths the word ‘water’ as subtly as he can. Connor nods in understanding and heads to the kitchen. He comes back a few moments later with a glass of water and a box of Ritz crackers. It takes some wrangling, but eventually between the two of them, they manage to convince Tom to eat some crackers and drink some water and put him to bed.

 

Evan and Connor find themselves back in the living room just in time to see the villain trying to remove one of the main characters kidneys. Evan turns off the television immediately.

 

“I hate horror films,” he announces, resting his head on Connor’s shoulder.

 

“I know you do,” Connor replies. “You’re a good friend.”

 

They sit there in silence for a moment.

 

“You think he’s going to be okay?” Connor asks, a little uncertain.

 

“I think so,” Evan replies with a sigh. “Break-ups are rough.”

 

“Break-ups are the _worst,_ ” Connor declares. “I’ve decided to never have one again.”

 

Evan feels something in his chest twist happily.

 

“Yeah?”

 

Connor smiles. “Yeah.”

 

The next morning Tom is hungover and apologetic and promises Evan and Connor that he’s done wallowing in self-pity and he’s going to focus on getting over it. Connor actually rolls his eyes at this, and Evan’s about to give him a stern look when he speaks up.

 

“It’s been three days,” Connor points out. “You’re going to feel better about it with time but you shouldn’t expect yourself to be able to just ‘get over it’. It’s unrealistic.”

 

“He’s right,” Evan agrees. He looks at Connor with a smile. “That’s good advice.”

 

Connor grins. “Haven’t you heard? I’m a genius.”

 

Evan grins back. “Absolutely.”

 

Tom sighs dramatically and rests his head on the kitchen table. “I’m going to die alone.”

 

Fast-forward two weeks and Evan almost misses the three days Tom spent watching horror films, eating ice cream and crying, because the next step of Tom’s Break-Up Strategy is what he likes to call being “Single and Ready to Mingle”.

 

Meaning that Tom is out partying almost every night.

 

And for some reason, Evan’s getting more and more annoyed about it.

 

Which isn’t really fair of him, he realizes. Tom’s not being an asshole about it or anything. He isn’t overly loud when he stumbles in drunk in the middle of the night. Most of the men he brings home for one night stands are polite and well-mannered. (One of them genuinely invites Evan and Connor to join him and Tom for breakfast and makes the best waffles Evan’s ever eaten in his life.) The others are gone by morning and Evan doesn’t even see them.

 

But still, every night when Tom’s getting ready to go out and Evan can hear him blasting Guns & Roses from his room, he starts getting really annoyed and he can’t quite pinpoint why.

 

It’s a Friday night when Evan finally figures it out. He and Connor are sitting on the sofa in the living room, watching The Great British Bake-Off and debating whether or not they should go and buy a cake.

 

“The thing about being an adult is that you can do that,” Connor points out. “We could get in my car and go to the supermarket and just… buy a cake.”

 

“Yeah, but that would require leaving the house,” Evan counters. “We have flour and stuff. We could make a cake?”

 

They exchange a look and both burst out laughing immediately.

 

Tom comes into the room and picks up his jacket from the lumpy but comfortable armchair he and Evan had found at a thrift store a few months after they moved in. He’s in a shirt Evan hasn’t seen before and has done his hair and looks pretty good.

 

“Looking good,” Connor says to Tom. “You off to sow more wild oats?”

 

Tom laughs. “Absolutely. You two have fun being boring and practically married.”

 

With that, he leaves, and something kind of clicks in Evan’s head.

 

It takes him a while to actually figure it all out properly. He gets so distracted by his thoughts that when one of the contestants drops a cake tin, he actually jumps out of his seat, which makes Connor jump as well, and then they’re both laughing again.

 

Evan likes it. Likes being here with Connor. Likes sitting on the sofa and watching dumb TV shows and being all cute and semi-domestic. But…

 

“Do you think we’re boring?” Evan blurts out.

 

Connor looks at him with an expression that’s part concern and part curiosity. “Where did that come from?”

 

He gestures at the TV. “I mean, we’re seniors in college and we’re watching The Great British Bake-Off on a Friday night. Shouldn’t we be out… doing seniors in college things?”

 

Connor frowns a little. “What kind of things should we be doing?”

 

“Going out and partying,” Evan says. He sighs. “I don’t know, the last few weeks I’ve just been super annoyed at Tom and I think it’s because I’m… jealous? He’s out drinking and hooking up with random guys almost every night. I feel like I’m missing out.”

 

Connor’s eyes widen in alarm. “Do you want to go out and hook up with random guys?” he says, a little hesitantly.

 

“No!” Evan rushes to reassure him. _“God,_ no. I just…” He sighs again and looks at Connor, his expression serious. “I just want to make sure we get the full college experience. Next year you’ll be at grad school-”

 

“If I pass my GRE,” Connor interjects.

 

“You’ll pass it,” Evan assures him. “And grad school will be completely different. It’s our senior year and it would be really easy for us to just stay in every weekend and it just be us, but… we have the rest of our lives for it to just be us. We should do college things. So we don’t look back and wish we had.”

 

Connor looks at him with a bemused expression, then genuinely bursts out laughing. “I have to be honest,” he says, “I didn’t expect you to end up with senior year FOMO. It’s kind of cute.”

 

Evan knows he’s blushing so he rolls his eyes to try and appear less ridiculous. “It’s not that big a deal,” he says.

 

Connor stops laughing and kind of narrows his eyes at him. “It clearly is, though,” he counters. “If it’s bothering you.” He hauls his entire body onto the sofa and crosses his too-long legs like a pretzel in skinny jeans. “Okay. Let’s figure out what we want to do.” He smiles wryly. “A senior year bucket list.”

 

Evan feels something in his stomach go cold, remembering the last time Connor said those two words.

 

Senior year of high school.

 

A bucket list with a very different purpose.

 

“Not a bucket list,” he replies firmly. “We’re not… we’re not calling it that”

 

A pained expression flashes across Connor’s face, then he nods seriously. “Okay. Not a bucket list. Although we’re going to have to come up with a way of describing a bucket list that doesn’t involve the words bucket list...”

 

Evan’s heart is beating way too fast. “Could you… stop saying it? Please?”

 

Connor’s smile completely drops at that. He reaches out and grabs Evan’s hands. “I’m sorry,” he says, and he’s gone kind of pale and Evan hates it. “I didn’t mean to-”

 

Evan cuts Connor off by leaning in and kissing him. Hard.

 

Connor lets out a small yelp of surprise. Evan pulls back, apologies on the tip of his tongue, when Connor reaches out and pulls him back toward him and kisses him with so much enthusiasm that they fall off the sofa and narrowly miss bumping into the coffee table.

 

And there they are, a tangle of limbs on the floor of the living room.

 

It’s so ridiculous Evan has to laugh.

 

After a moment, Connor joins him, and then they’re both lying on the floor laughing a little bit too hard, and Evan feels his heart hammering in his chest for a completely different reason.

 

He just.

 

Really fucking loves this man.

 

Once they’ve managed to get their laughter under control, Connor reaches out and touches Evan’s face. Evan feels the touch like a bolt of electricity.

 

“I didn’t mean to bring that all back,” Connor says quietly. “I don’t like thinking about it either.”

 

“It’s okay,” Evan replies, just as quietly. “It happened. And it… I’m not going to spout some horrible cliché about how it was all worth it because it gave me you, because it was really, completely and utterly fucked up, but… we’ve moved on, and we’re not in that place anymore, and that’s… we can appreciate where we are now and acknowledge where we’ve been, even though it’s painful.”

 

Connor smiles brightly. “That’s very wise and zen of you.”

 

“Haven’t you heard?” Evan shoots back with a grin. “I’m very wise and zen.”

 

Connor laughs and kisses him, and Evan eagerly kisses him back, and pretty soon the kisses get more and more heated and they’re hastily relocating to Evan’s room. All thoughts of bucket lists and senior year of high school fly out of Evan’s head as he kisses Connor’s neck and revels in the sounds he’s making and pretty soon, he’s not thinking about anything at all except how good it all feels.

 

After, as they’re curled up in Evan’s too-small bed, Connor turns to face Evan. Evan can feel the softness of Connor’s hair against his cheek. “So what do we want to do before we graduate college?” he says softly. “Let’s make a list. A regular list.”

 

“Honestly, I don’t even know,” Evan admits. “It doesn’t need to be a long list, I just want to make sure we do… something.”

 

Connor’s quiet for a moment. When he speaks, he sounds very reluctant. “We could do the whole spring break thing.”

 

Evan actually thinks he’s hearing things for a moment. “Did you say spring break?”

 

“Yeah,” Connor says, clearly faking enthusiasm. “Didn’t Tom go to Florida last year? We could… do that.”

 

Evan sits up. “You want to go to Florida for spring break?”

 

Connor sits up and kind of shrugs. “I mean, it’d be warm? I could… read a book on the beach?”

 

“You, Connor Murphy, want to do the whole ‘Girls Gone Wild’ debauchery of spring break?”

 

Connor rolls his eyes. “You know I have absolutely no interest in girls, whether they’ve gone wild or not.” He screws up his nose a little, but continues. “I mean, it’s the kind of weird college thing that we could say we’d done. I’m sure my dad would be secretly thrilled if I decided to do something vaguely normal for a change.”

 

“I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to do,” Evan says firmly. “That’s not… that’s so not the point of this.”

 

“It doesn’t sound like my scene,” Connor says honestly, “but you never know until you try.” He looks thoughtful. “And by the time we get to spring break, I’ll have done my GRE and my application for grad school and all that, so… it could be good. A kind of ‘last hurrah’ before the whole finals thing.”

 

“If you’re sure,” Evan replies, “then it can go on the list.” He thinks for a moment. “I haven’t been as involved in the LGBT Campus Center as I’d like. Maybe that’s something we could add to the list? Make sure to get to at least one event?”

 

“Sure,” says Connor, and this time it doesn’t sound like he’s faking his enthusiasm. “You and Tom were involved a lot in your freshman year, right?”

 

“We were, yeah. It was fun.” Evan considers. “I’m pretty sure I’m still on the mailing list.”

 

They both lie back down. Connor wraps an arm around Evan and he’s pretty sure he can hear his boyfriend’s heartbeat.

 

It’s comforting.

 

“What about, like, campus traditions?” Connor says cautiously. “There’s got to be some kind of weird as fuck tradition at this college.” He lets out a laugh. “My dad was telling us about how his college had this weird hundred yard sprint competition but you had to do it in, like, flippers and a snorkel. And it was always in the dead of winter. I’m sure there’s got to be something stupid like that here.”

 

“Probably,” Evan replies with a laugh. “Sorry, I’m just picturing your dad in flippers and a snorkel trying to run a hundred yards.”

 

Connor lets out an even louder laugh, and there’s something about it that reminds Evan of sunshine. “Oh my god.”

 

“We’ll look into it,” Evan promises. “Okay, so we have spring break, LGBT Campus event, weird college tradition… what about something kind of dumb and irresponsible?”

 

Connor looks at him and raises his eyebrows. “How dumb and irresponsible are we talking?” He grins. “Spontaneous drunken tattoos?”

 

Evan rolls his eyes. “How can it be spontaneous if we’ve got it on the list?”

 

“Hey, you can totally schedule spontaneity.”

 

Evan snorts. “That’s such an Alana thing to say.”

 

“Oh my god, it totally is.”

 

“We could pull an all-nighter,” Evan suggests.

 

Connor doesn’t look convinced. “Aren’t we both supposed to be focusing on keeping healthy sleep schedules?”

 

“Just the once should be fine,” Evan assures him. “But it has to be, like, a fun all-nighter.” Connor waggles his eyebrows suggestively and Evan cracks up laughing. “Not necessarily _that_ kind of fun. It just can’t be a study all-nighter.”

 

“Okay,” Connor says with a nod. “So we have four things. One of which is your version of dumb and irresponsible, which is… honestly the cutest fucking thing I’ve ever heard.”

 

“Oh my god.” Evan leans in and kisses Connor on the neck, enjoying the feeling of him shivering at his touch. “Okay, so we’re definitely doing this list thing?”

 

“Sure,” says Connor, clearly distracted by Evan running his fingers across his clavicle. “Whatever you want.”

 

Evan smirks. “Whatever I want?”

 

Instead of answering, Connor pulls Evan in for another kiss and very suddenly, the list drops down to the very bottom of Evan’s list of priorities.

* * *

 

**Late October: Attend an LGBT Campus Center Event**

 

Connor has to admit, he wasn’t expecting they’d get started so soon, but it’s barely two weeks before they end up with an opportunity to tick an item off The List. Turns out that the LGBT Campus Center is throwing a Hallowe’en Party, and once Tom finds out about Evan and Connor’s Senior Year mission, he insists they come along.

 

Connor doesn’t hate the idea of going to a Hallowe’en party. When he was a kid, he’d loved Hallowe’en. He’d just thought that he’d have a little more time to prepare himself for doing something like this.

 

It’s not that he disagrees with Evan’s theory that they should do “seniors in college” things. It’s just that… well, it’s kind of not a big deal to him. He likes staying home with Evan and watching TV, eating ice cream and having sex. That’s enough of a social life for him. He doesn’t need this list. If they don’t end up ticking off anything, it’s not really going to affect him one way or the other.

 

Except that it clearly matters to Evan. Which means it matters to Connor.

 

And he appreciates that it’s a short list. It’s a short list, they both helped make it and at the end of the day, there’s nothing on it that Connor’s exactly dreading and a few things he’s genuinely looking forward to.

 

It’s just that he and Evan had decided that they’d wait until after winter break to get stuck into the list. Connor’s ridiculously busy with grad school applications, as well as looking into some internships over the summer, not to mention his classes, and while Evan’s not quite as busy, he’s not exactly swimming in spare time. But next semester was going to be considerably more laid back, so they’d decided that’s when they’d start really working on The List.

 

“It’s up to you,” Evan says after Tom goes out, seemingly satisfied with having pleaded his case. “We don’t have to go to this. There are other events.”

 

“Do you want to?” Connor asks, point blank.

 

Evan doesn’t say anything for a moment, then he nods. “Kind of, yeah. There aren’t tons of events organized for next semester and most of them are speed dating, which… no… so this sounds like one of the few events I’d actually enjoy. And we don’t even need to stay that long to tick it off the list.”

 

Connor thinks about it. He’s just finished an assignment, and he has a test the day before Hallowe’en, so in theory, it’s not a bad time to do this.

 

“If you want to go, then let’s do it,” Connor declares. Evan’s face breaks into a grin. “But no couples’ costumes. It’ll completely ruin my street cred.”

 

“Of course,” says Evan with a roll of his eyes. “Your street cred. How could I forget?”

 

“Haven’t you heard?” Connor says with a grin. “I’m hip-hop happening.”

 

“Oh my god.”

 

This has the unintended consequence of Evan randomly saying ‘hip-hop happening’ every couple of days in the lead-up to Hallowe’en and cracking up laughing every time, but Connor can’t bring himself to regret it given how much he likes Evan’s laugh.

 

And Evan’s smile.

 

And Evan.

 

Just Evan.

 

Sometimes he actually disgusts himself at how marshmallow gooey he gets when he thinks about Evan.

 

Evan, who is refusing to tell Connor what his Hallowe’en costume is going to be.

 

“I want it to be a surprise,” Evan says when Connor asks for the third time.

 

“Let me guess,” Connor says, “you’re going in full drag.”

 

Evan looks him dead in the eye. “That’s a no. I’m afraid of contouring.”

 

Connor nods. “Fair. Completely fair.”

 

Connor hasn’t told Evan what his Hallowe’en costume is going to be, because Connor doesn’t know. And he really doesn’t have that much time to get it sorted. Since Evan’s costume is a surprise, Connor doesn’t exactly want to ask Evan what he should go as, so he pulls out the big guns.

 

He calls Zoe.

 

“You’re asking me to help you pick a Hallowe’en costume?” says Zoe, genuine delight in her voice. “Oh my god. This is fantastic. Wait a minute, Alana’s here, I’ll put you on speaker.”

 

“Hi Connor!” says Alana, and Connor smiles at the sound of her voice.

 

“Hey ‘Lana. How’s it all going?”

 

“It’s all going very well. I’m doing well in all my classes and I’ve nearly finished my application to medical school for next year.”

 

“She’s so smart,” says Zoe with a fond smile. “I can’t wait until she’s slicing people open.”

 

“Gross,” Connor says with a grin. “Okay, so… Hallowe’en costume ideas? Evan won’t tell me what he’s going as but I said no couple’s costumes, so… that’s fine.”

 

“How do you feel about spandex?”

 

“Strongly negative.”

 

“Okay, that rules out superheroes,” says Zoe thoughtfully.

 

“You’re tall,” Alana says. “You could be an elf.”

 

“No.”

 

“What if you went as a burrito?” Zoe suggests.

 

Connor stares at his phone for a moment before responding. “That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”

 

“Oh my god,” says Alana, her voice excited. “I’ve got the perfect idea.”

 

Alana tells Connor her idea.

 

It’s not necessarily the perfect idea, but… it’s better than all the other suggestions, and Connor doesn’t immediately hate it. It’s relatively straightforward and it’s not going to make him feel like an idiot wandering around campus, considering that they’ve have agreed that he’ll meet Evan at his apartment so as not to spoil their costumes.

 

Connor manages to fit in a trip to a thrift store in between classes and assignments and finds a prop he needs on Amazon. It arrives overnight and pretty soon, he’s got a full costume ready to go in plenty of time for Hallowe’en, which means he can honestly say that he’s got it covered when Evan asks.  

 

When the day of the party rolls around, he gets himself into his costume and sends Zoe a Snapchat once he’s all ready.

 

She replies immediately with several thumbs up emojis.

 

Which is encouraging.

 

It doesn’t take too long to walk to Evan and Tom’s apartment, and any fears of looking like an idiot are quickly allayed by the fact that there are just so many people running around in costumes. There’s a large bearded man who reminds him of Dave dressed as Wonder Woman, which Connor obviously has to let Dave and Aletheia know immediately via text message, and no fewer than a dozen girls in a group wearing antlers and not much else. Add to that a couple of grown men in diapers and an admittedly very well done Corpse Bride and Connor’s feeling pretty good about his own ensemble.

 

He knocks on the door of Evan and Tom’s apartment. There’s a bit of a wait, then Evan opens the door. Connor takes one look at him and bursts out laughing.

 

Evan spreads his arms and shows off his costume. “I’m a burrito!”

 

“Oh my god, you’re a burrito.” A thought occurs to him. “Like the time I got you high and wrapped you in a blanket.”

 

Evan stares at him for a moment, then realization seems to dawn. “Oh my god, I’d totally forgotten about that. I just saw the costume online and thought it was completely ridiculous.” He looks at Connor and smiles widely. “Very nice Edgar Allen Poe.”

 

“It was Alana’s suggestion,” Connor says with a grin. “She said it goes with the whole ‘English literature’ nerd thing and my general aesthetic.”

 

Evan laughs. “I think you look hot.” He looks at the fake bird Connor’s managed to get to stick to his shoulder and laughs again. “But I think the raven is giving me the stink-eye.”

 

“Quoth the raven, ‘hands off my man’.”

 

Evan laughs again and pulls Connor in for a kiss.

 

It is very, very strange to be kissing a burrito, but Connor can’t say he minds.

 

“This costume is kind of bulky,” Connor says with a grin. “I’ll have to unwrap you later.”

 

“The words every man wants to hear,” Evan deadpans. “Unwrap me like a burrito.”

 

“Hot.”

 

They stand there, looking at each other like lovestruck idiots for a while.

 

Just… fuck, he’s just so _gone_ for this boy.

 

“Are you ready to go?” Connor asks after a moment. “And are we waiting for Tom?”

 

“He’ll meet us there,” Evan says, closing the door of the apartment and heading out into the hallway.

 

“Do you have everything you need?”

 

“Yup.” Evan, someone, pulls his phone, wallet and keys from somewhere in his costume. “Check it out - this burrito has pockets!”

 

“Oh my _god.”_

 

When they get to the venue that’s hosting the LGBT Hallowe’en Bash, Connor’s fairly certain he’s going to go blind from the decorations. They’re… a lot. It’s a mess of colors and cobwebs and fake skeletons in compromising positions.

 

They’re IDed when they get in and Connor’s never been gladder to be over 21, because he’s pretty sure he’s going to need alcohol to get through the night.

 

There are a lot of people in this room.

 

There’s a dance floor and a DJ and a bar and it’s all just a lot. Evan grabs his arm and points to a curtain. “There’s a quiet space there,” he says. “I remember last time I went to one of these events, there’s always a place that’s, like, quiet so it’s not super overwhelming for people.”

 

“Let’s get a drink first,” Connor suggests, and Evan nods in agreement. They push through a crowd of zombie drag queens, werewolves and togas to get to the bar, and end up with vodka cranberries that are heavier on the vodka than they probably should be but Connor’s not complaining.

 

After they’ve got a few drinks in them, the night improves drastically. Tom arrives, dressed in a rather impressive Zorro costume, and it’s actually been a while since they’ve all caught up, so Tom’s got plenty of entertaining stories to tell about his many, many, many dates in the last month or so.

 

Tom’s busy telling a story about a guy who got the hiccups in the middle of giving him a blow job when Connor notices Evan’s eyes go wide. He follows Evan’s gaze to see a girl with cotton candy pink hair in what looks like a sushi costume awkwardly waving at him, and turns back to see Evan trying to disappear into his burrito.

 

“Oh hey, isn’t that Jo from freshman year?” says Tom, waving the girl over. “Jo! How’s it going?”

 

Jo with the pink hair looks like she’d rather be doing anything else but reluctantly approaches. As she gets closer, Connor notices she’s holding hands with a girl dressed as Velma from Scooby Doo, who just looks confused.

 

“Hi,” says Jo, a little awkwardly. “It’s Tom, right?”

 

“Yes,” says Tom with a sunny smile. He’s clearly been pregaming because he’s definitely drunker than Connor and Evan. “This is Connor, and you remember Evan.”

 

“Hi,” says Evan weakly, abandoning his attempts to disappear into his costume.

 

“How’ve you been?” Jo asks Evan.

 

Evan nods. “Good.” He gestures in her direction. “Nice costume.”

 

“You too,” she says. “I actually thought about the burrito but decided on the sushi instead.”

 

Evan laughs a little. “Other way around for me. I just thought it was so stupid, I had to get it.”

 

Jo laughs at that. “Same.” She looks back at the girl dressed as Velma, who’s looking more and more uncomfortable. “This is Dee,” she says. “Dee, this is Tom and Evan and… Connor?”

 

“Yup,” says Connor abruptly. “Connor.”

 

“It was nice to see you!” says Evan, too loudly. He grabs Connor’s arm. “We’re going to get a drink, see you later!”

 

With that, Connor finds himself being dragged to the bar, slightly confused about what just happened but beginning to piece it together from Evan’s reaction. Evan orders them another round of drinks and while they’re waiting for the bartender to mix them, he decides to just flat out ask.

 

“So… you and Jo. Freshman year?”

 

Evan looks like he’s seriously considering disappearing into his burrito again. “We were broken up,” he says awkwardly. “Jo and I made out at a bar after meeting at an LGBT event. She’s bi.”

 

“Huh,” is all Connor can really say.

 

And, okay, he and Evan have talked about it, and he knows that Evan did see other people in the time they were apart back in freshman year, but it’s been nearly three years since then now and so far, they’ve managed to avoid running into any of them.

 

Until now, apparently.

 

“We were broken up,” Evan says again.

 

The bartender puts their drinks on the bar and Connor reaches for his and takes a sip before answering Evan.

 

“Okay,” he says after a bit. “I mean, we’ve talked about it, so… it’s just kind of weird actually seeing someone that you... you know.”

 

“Yeah,” says Evan with a nod. “I honestly haven’t seen her since. It’s… weird.”

 

They finish their drinks and Evan orders yet another round. Connor has the sneaking suspicion he’d like to forget that entire weird encounter ever happened.

 

Which, surprisingly, isn’t all that hard. The rest of the evening passes by in a blur of dancing and drinking and taking stupid photos with Tom and a couple of people Connor vaguely recognizes who are friends of Evan’s from the environment club. There are three other people dressed as burritos and somehow Evan gets dragged into a photo with them, which he seems uncharacteristically enthusiastic about, and there are tons and tons and tons of selfies of the two of them.

 

So many selfies.

 

Near the end of the night, they end up in the quiet section and find themselves witness to a heated debate about Harry Potter between a unicorn and a sexy flight attendant. The unicorn is convinced that Dumbledore is the real villain whereas the flight attendant completely disagrees and somehow, Connor and Evan both find themselves involved.

 

“Dumbledore’s not exactly a villain,” Evan declares as he finishes his drink. “He’s just an asshole.”

 

“He raises Harry to die!” the unicorn says passionately. “Dumbledore set him up as a scapegoat, made him live with abusive family when there were so many other options, all so he’d follow Dumbledore blindly.”

 

“But it was all to save everyone from Voldemort,” the flight attendant argues. “He was just doing what had to be done.”

 

“You know who the real villain is,” says the unicorn after a moment. He’s waving around a glass of something pink and is probably drunker than Evan, which is saying something. “JK Rowling.”

 

There are murmurs of agreement from the group.

 

“Oh my god,” says someone dressed as a frog. “What the fuck was that bullshit with Nagini in Fantastic Beasts?”

 

Again, murmurs of agreement.

 

“As far as I’m concerned, those films aren’t canon,” says the unicorn firmly.

 

“Ezra Miller is so hot, though,” Tom points out.

 

Extremely enthusiastic murmurs of agreement.

 

Weirdly enough, they’re some of the last people at the party. Tom’s volunteered to help clean up and Connor kind of feels like he should volunteer to help, but Evan’s drunker than he is and he should probably get him home. Tom waves them off and they make their way back to Evan’s apartment.

 

By the time they get back to the apartment, Evan’s sobered up a decent amount. He unlocks the front door, lets them in and heads straight for the kitchen to get a glass of water, pouring one for himself and handing one to Connor.

 

They stand there in silence for a while.

 

“I’m sorry about the whole thing with Jo,” Evan says out of the blue. “I know it was weird.”

 

Connor shrugs. “I mean, it was a long time ago.”

 

“Yeah.” Evan finishes his glass of water, then pours another one. “I just… it’s not her fault, I just didn’t want to think about… that whole thing where we broke up. It wasn’t… I _hated_ it.”

 

Connor thinks about how completely convinced he’d been that Evan would be better off without him.

 

How much he’d missed him.

 

“I hated it, too,” he admits.

 

Evan waves his glass at him. “You said you’d decided never to have a break-up again,” he says, and it’s clear he’s still a little drunk and it’s kind of cute. “I’m going to hold you to that.”

 

“Fine by me,” Connor agrees.

 

They look at each other for a moment. Evan’s got this soft smile on his face and Connor just can’t stop looking at it.

 

“Want to unwrap my burrito?” Evan says after a moment.

 

Connor laughs. “Absolutely.”

* * *

 

**Early December: Take Part in a Campus Tradition**

 

Evan doesn’t see much of Connor in the lead up to winter break. It’s not surprising, because Connor is ridiculously busy, but it does kind of suck, because he misses him.

 

They study together on occasion but it’s easy to get distracted, because…

 

Well.

 

It’s Connor.

 

And he’s taken to wearing his glasses more often when he studies, and also putting his hair up, and when he’s sitting there in the library with his sleeves rolled up, showing off his tattoos with his glasses and his hair up all Evan can really focus on is how hot he looks.

 

The hipster librarian thing really, really works for him.

 

It’s about two weeks before winter break when Connor knocks on the door of Evan’s apartment unexpectedly. He’s bundled up in jacket and that red scarf and his cheeks are pink and Evan has to kiss them, he can’t help it.

 

Connor moves to kiss him properly, then pulls away and brandishes a book. “I finally found out about the campus tradition,” he says. “And I think we’re going to have to rethink that entry in The List.”

 

Evan frowns. “Why?” Connor opens the books, finds a page and then shows it to Evan, who just stares at it for a moment. “Oh my god.”

 

“Yeah,” says Connor with a sigh. “I figured you wouldn’t be into it.”

 

“How have I never seen this before? Or heard about this before?”

 

“You’ve never had any classes in that building,” Connor points out. “Neither have I. That’s where the music school is.”

 

There in the photo is a very sad looking oak tree with hundreds of beer cans nailed to it. The caption underneath explains that it’s a student tradition to drink a beer under the tree then nail the can to the tree and Evan is Very Much Not Okay with this.

 

“This is… no. No, we’re not doing that.”

 

“Of course not,” says Connor with a nod. “I’m not about to make you hurt a tree, Jesus fuck.”

 

“So this is the big campus tradition?” Evan asks, feeling his heart plummet into his shoes. “That’s… okay, I actually hate this.”

 

Connor winces. “I’m sorry. I stumbled across it when I was working and thought you should know.”

 

Evan brings it up at the next environmental club meeting. The majority of the members look at Evan like he’s very, very stupid.

 

“It’s tradition,” says one of the members.

 

“It’s completely ridiculous.”

 

“But it’s tradition.”

 

Evan sighs. “So no one else has a problem with the student body mutilating a tree?”

 

Someone else shrugs. “It’s one tree. We need to focus on the bigger picture.”

 

“I guess, but it’s still not cool.”

 

“I think it’s terrible,” says another girl, “but it’s not like there’s anything we can do about it.”

 

Evan’s grumpy all week. He tries to focus on end of semester exams and assignments but he just keeps thinking about that poor sad tree and it’s making him even more annoyed.

 

When Friday afternoon arrives, Connor shows up at his apartment armed with a bag. “Dress warm,” he announces as Evan opens the door. “We’re making our own tradition.”

 

Evan’s more than a little bewildered as Connor drags him through campus all the way to the music school building, then starts to understand as he gets his first in person look at the very sad looking tree, covered in beer cans.

 

“I did a little research,” Connor says, pulling out two hammers out of his bag and handing one to Evan. “This tradition is more or less dead. No one’s really done this in years. So I figured… let’s speak for the trees.”

 

Evan looks at the hammer in his hand. “We’re going to take them off?”

 

“Yup,” Connor announces cheerfully. “And what’s more, remember that guy who was dressed as a unicorn at Hallowe’en? He’s an art student and he’s interested in using the cans as a sculpture.”

 

“Are we going to get in trouble?” Evan asks, a little dubious.

 

Connor shrugs. “Probably not. There are no security cameras out here.” He grins. “I checked.”

 

“Oh my god.”

 

“So what do you say?” Connor asks, smiling at Evan. “Shall we liberate a tree?”

 

“Yes,” says Evan instantly.

 

They set to work removing the nails and putting all the cans into a bag. It’s not exactly easy work, but Connor’s come prepared with gloves and wire cutters and even a thermos of hot chocolate. It takes literal hours, but they’re both determined.

 

At one point, they genuinely have to climb the tree to get some of the higher cans off. Evan does the climbing and Connor spots him, and Evan throws down the cans once they’re off so Connor can put them in the bag.

 

Once it’s done, the tree is full of holes, but at least it’s not covered in metal anymore. Evan has a good look at the roots to check for signs of internal decay and can’t find any, which is a good sign.

 

“What’s the verdict?” Connor asks. “Is the tree going to be okay?”

 

“I think so,” Evan says with a nod. “This guy is old. Really old. You can tell by how thick he is. And aluminium cans have only existed since 1958, so that means this dumb tradition has only been going on for a fraction of his life.” He looks the tree up and down and nods in satisfaction. “He’s tough. He’s going to bounce back and be better than ever.”

 

“Aluminium cans have only existed since 1958?” Connor says incredulously. “Then this is a really dumb tradition.”

 

“It is,” Evan agrees.

 

“This campus should really get a new one.”

 

“It should.”

 

“You know,” Connor says as they drag the bag of cans back to Connor’s apartment, “I was looking up other campus traditions and honestly, all of them are pretty insane. I think we’ve dodged a bullet.”

 

“Oh?”

 

“We could have accidentally signed up to do a fun run in our underwear,” Connor points out. “Or having sex in public places. That’s a campus tradition in plenty of places.”

 

“Oh my god,” Evan says in horror. “No, I don’t want to do that.”

 

Connor laughs. “I didn’t think so.”

 

They get back to Connor’s apartment and put the bag of cans in the corner of the living room. Apparently the unicorn guy is going to pick them up next week.

 

“I guess this campus is going to need a new tradition,” Connor says thoughtfully as he and Evan lie down on Connor’s bed. It’s close to one am and they’re both exhausted.

 

“If it involves saving trees, then I’m all for it,” says Evan, curling up beside Connor and drifting off to sleep.

 

* * *

 

**Mid March: Do Spring Break**

 

Tom genuinely laughs for a solid minute when Evan tells him that he and Connor are going to Florida for spring break. Connor’s not sure whether he should be offended.

 

“It’s just… I’ve literally never seen you in anything other than skinny jeans,” Tom explains. “I can’t imagine you on the beach.”

 

“I’m not going to melt or sparkle or anything,” Connor points out with a roll of his eyes. “I can handle the beach.”

 

“Let me guess,” says Tom with a smile. “You’re bringing an entire bag of books with you.”

 

Connor scowls because Tom is absolutely right.

 

Evan, who’s sitting next to him on the sofa, rests his head on his shoulder. “You’re allowed to do whatever you want on spring break,” he says firmly. “And I’m bringing SPF 50 sunscreen.”

 

Connor is… not a summer person. In general, it’s his least favorite season. At least when it’s cold you can layer up, but there’s only so many layers you can take off when it’s hot. He’s spent so much time hating his body, thinking he was weird and skinny and bony and disgusting, and while he’s starting to get a handle on his negative self-talk, he’s still not hugely fond of people who aren’t Evan seeing too much of him.

 

But it’s been a cold winter and the idea of sitting somewhere warm by the ocean and reading actually sounds pretty fucking idyllic.

 

Not that he has any delusions about it being peaceful. He knows it’s going to be a week of loud craziness and he’s not going to get much sleep and Florida is going to be full of drunken idiots.

 

At least he’ll be with Evan.

 

Tom’s the first one to leave with Mateo, a guy he’s been seeing for the last few weeks. He’s promised to make sure Evan and Connor get a room and says he’s looking forward to seeing them. Evan’s got an assignment due on the last day before break officially starts, so he and Connor are heading down on the Saturday morning.

 

Once Evan finally gets his assignment in, he finishes his packing and they both crash at his apartment so they can start their drive early the next morning.

 

They wake up far too early and Connor’s already starting to regret this whole thing. Evan’s even more exhausted than he is, but he’s more of a morning person that Connor’s ever been so has agreed to take the first shift of driving. He drinks a cup of coffee and prepares a thermos of more coffee, then they pack up Connor’s car and head on their voyage south.

 

Once they’re on the road, it’s actually kind of nice. Evan’s let Connor be in charge of the playlist and he’s picked his favorites. They’ve brought snacks and they’re planning to stop for breakfast once they’ve got a couple of hours driving behind them.

 

It’s all going suspiciously well.

 

Which is why Connor’s not even a little bit surprised when they stop in South Carolina for breakfast and realize once they’ve eaten that the car won’t start.

 

Evan looks like he’s about to have a panic attack but instead takes a deep breath and asks Connor whether his car insurance covers roadside assistance.

 

Connor’s not sure. He knows his parents are still paying for his car insurance.

 

It’s not too horribly early, so he reluctantly calls home.

 

His dad answers the phone.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Dad. Hi. It’s Connor.”

 

“Hi Connor,” says Larry, sounding a little puzzled. “Everything okay? You guys are heading to Florida for spring break, right?”

 

“Yeah. We’re in South Carolina,” Connor says. He really doesn’t want to be having this conversation. He closes his eyes. “We stopped for breakfast and now my car won’t start. I just wanted to check if my insurance covers roadside assistance.”

 

“Is the engine turning over?”

 

Connor blinks. “I don’t know.”

 

Larry sighs. “Okay. What happens when you turn the key?”

 

Connor grits his teeth and tries to push down the anger building in his stomach. “The car doesn’t start.”

 

“What sound does it make, Connor?”

 

“Look, does the insurance cover roadside assistance or not?” Connor snaps.

 

There’s silence at the other end of the line. Connor sighs.

 

“I’m sorry,” he says. “We got up really early for the drive and I’m exhausted and this is just really frustrating. I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

 

There’s still silence and Connor’s honestly convinced his dad is going to start yelling or chew him out or just hang up. Finally, he replies.

 

“Where are you now?” Larry asks. “Give me the address and I’ll organize getting someone out to you.”

 

“I can call someone,” Connor says. “You don’t have to do that-”

 

“Just tell me where you are and I’ll sort it out.”

 

Connor turns to Evan, who’s already found the address of the diner they’d stopped at for breakfast on his phone. Evan shows him the address and Connor reads it back to his father, who he can hear is writing it down.

 

“Okay,” says Larry. “I’ll make some calls and then get back to you. Talk to you soon.”

 

With that, the call is over and Connor’s left staring at his phone in disbelief.

 

“What’s going on?” Evan asks, a little surprised.

 

“My dad’s sorting it all out,” Connor replies, still not really sure this is actually happening. “Even after I, like, snapped at him.”

 

Evan looks at him and smiles slowly. “That’s good. You and your dad have been getting along a lot better recently.”

 

“Yeah,” says Connor, a little shell-shocked. “I just… I don’t know, it’s weird. Is it weird?”

 

“Dads are supposed to help with things like this,” Evan says, and there’s something in his tone that’s deliberately casual that makes Connor’s stomach twist.

 

Evan’s dad is…

 

Well…

 

It’s a whole thing.

 

It’s barely five minutes before Connor gets a text from Larry saying that there’s someone on the way, and only five minutes after that when someone shows up to look at his car. There’s a lot of looking around and oohing and aahing and Connor’s not really paying much attention to what they’re doing because he’s tired and he’s annoyed, but Evan seems to be trying to take in as much as he can.

 

“Okay,” says the roadside assistance guy after some deliberation. “You’ve got a hybrid, so it’s a little tricky. There’s a broken sensor here, which means the battery is running when the engine’s off.”

 

“So it’s a dead battery,” says Evan. “Can we just replace it?”

 

“If you do, it’s just going to keep happening,” the guy says. “You boys are driving to Florida, right?” They nod, and he continues. “Yeah, not with this broken sensor you’re not.”

 

“So can someone replace the sensor?” Evan asks.

 

The guys nods. “Absolutely, but it’s not a part that the local auto shop is gonna have in stock. It’ll need to be special ordered.”

 

Evan is starting to look as irritated as Connor feels. “And how long is that going to take?”

 

The guys shrugs. “Couple of days, maybe. And it’s the weekend, so nothing’s guaranteed.”

 

“So you’re saying we’re fucked,” says Connor bluntly.

 

“You’ll be without a car for three days at least,” says the guy, barely apologetic. “A week, maximum.”

 

“Shit,” Evan says under his breath.

 

The guy sighs, and looks at them with a flash of actual sympathy. “Look, we’ll tow the car to the auto shop and I’ll give you a lift to the center of town and you can consider all your options, okay?”

 

Evan and Connor exchange a look. Connor shrugs. “I guess if that’s what we have to do.”

 

Once they’re in the center of town, it becomes clear that this is not a big town.

 

This is, in fact, a pretty damn small town.

 

If Connor weren’t so annoyed, he’d find it kind of cute. There’s another diner, a run-down movie theatre, a bookstore and a bunch of weird antique shops. When they get to the auto shop, Connor’s phone rings.

 

It’s his dad.

 

“What’s the verdict?” asks Larry.

 

“Well, looks like we’re stuck here for at least a few days,” Connor says, trying not to sound too annoyed. “Unless we can get a rental, but I’m not holding my breath. This is a pretty small town.”

 

“I’ll see what I can do, but I can’t promise anything,” says Larry. Connor can practically hear the frown in his voice. “When was the last time you had your car serviced?”

 

“I honestly have no idea.”

 

Larry sighs. “Okay. So, maybe this is a reminder that you need to stay on top of that.”

 

“I don’t really need a lecture right now,” Connor says before he can stop himself. Then he feels like shit. “Sorry. Sorry, I’m being an asshole-”

 

“Ask your mother sometime about what happened when our car broke down on our first family vacation when you were three,” Larry interrupts. “I get it. I know you guys were looking forward to the whole spring break thing.”

 

“Yeah,” says Connor flatly.

 

“Your mom’s been looking at accommodation near where you are, just in case,” Larry says. “She’s sending you some links. And I’m going to transfer some money into your account so I know you’re covered.”

 

“You don’t have to do that-”

 

“Connor. We want you both to be safe.”

 

This is weird and unexpected and Connor has no idea how to react to his dad being so cool about this whole thing. He’s expecting a lecture and disappointment and this somehow being all his fault but instead he’s getting support and it’s…

 

It’s such a complete turnaround from how things were in high school.

 

It hits him, once again, just how much things have changed between him and his dad.

 

“Thank you,” he says quietly. “I’ll talk to Evan and I’ll stay in touch, okay?”

 

“Okay,” says Larry. There’s an awkward pause. “Your mother and I love you, Connor.”

 

“Yeah,” says Connor. “Uh, me too.”

 

And then he hangs up the phone and promptly starts hyperventilating.

 

Evan’s eyes widen in alarm and he puts his arm around Connor immediately. “Hey, hey, what’s going on?” he asks gently, rubbing Connor’s back in small, soothing circles.

 

It takes a moment, but Connor manages to wrestle back some self control. “It’s, uh… Mom’s sending me some links of places to stay if we’re stuck here and Dad’s sending some money.”

 

Evan kind of ‘mmm’s in agreement, and Connor can tell, immediately, that he gets it, and that’s what makes it easier to breathe. “Things are really different now, huh.”

 

“Yeah. Yeah, they are.”

 

The guy at the auto shop says there might be a sensor available at another auto shop in state, but that it would be Monday at the earliest.

 

There’s no way to get a rental car until Monday, either.

 

It looks like they’re staying put.

 

Evan calls Tom to let him know and Connor starts looking through the links his mother has sent through. Most of them are kind of bougie, cutesy B&Bs that sound kind of awful but there’s one that stands out as actually okay.

 

A place called The Trailside Inn. It’s not dirt cheap but compared to some of the others, it’s downright affordable. The rooms look nice, the restaurant onsite apparently has great reviews and what’s more, it boasts a sunny reading room with wall to wall bookshelves and a free shuttle service to a long list of nearby nature walks.

 

If they’re going to be stuck here, then they should at least enjoy themselves.

 

Evan comes back from his call with Tom with a frown on his face. “Okay, so since we’re not coming until Monday, it doesn’t look like Tom’s going to be able to save us a room,” says Evan with a frown. “So even if we do get to Florida by Monday, we won’t have anywhere to stay.”

 

Connor shows Evan his phone. “What do you think of this place?”

 

Evan looks through the photos and Connor can genuinely see his eyes light up at the nature walk descriptions. “This looks… really cool.”

 

Connor smiles. “The List didn’t say we had to go to Florida for spring break,” he points out. “It just said we had to do spring break. What if we just stayed here? This place has books and trees and apparently the food is good.”

 

Evan looks thoughtful. “And we’d get time to ourselves,” he points out. “And we’d probably get some sleep.”

 

“We wouldn’t have to worry about drunken idiots making noise in the middle of the night.”

 

“We wouldn’t have to worry about drunken idiots, full stop.” Evan’s face breaks into a sunny smile. “Okay. Let’s do this.”

 

It turns out that even though this town is tiny, they still have an Uber service, so it’s not long before Evan and Connor arrive at The Trailside Inn. Connor has to admit, it’s pretty. The concierge is friendly and doesn’t pull any ‘two beds’ bullshit when it’s obvious they’re a couple, which is a huge plus.

 

Connor checks his balance to see his parents have given him more than enough for a week’s stay so he and Evan make the decision to book until next Saturday.

 

The first thing they do is have a nap.

 

The bed is ridiculously comfortable.

 

They wake up mid-afternoon and kind of just lie in bed for a while.

 

It’s really, really nice.

 

“Do you want to do something?” Evan murmurs softly. “Should we get up and do something?”

 

“We don’t have to get up,” Connor replies, and rolls over and kisses Evan.

 

And.

 

Well.

 

It feels almost decadent, having sex in a king sized bed that’s ridiculously comfortable as the afternoon sun streams through the window. There are no roommates to worry about, no navigating twin beds… it’s nice.

 

It feels weird, being here.

 

It’s nice.

 

It’s kind of grown-up.

 

Which might be against the point of this whole ‘list of things to do before graduating college’ but Connor honestly can’t bring himself to care.

 

They eventually head down to the restaurant to have dinner and the reviews aren’t kidding, this place has really great food. They’re in the middle of eating when Connor’s phone rings. He looks at the screen and sees that it’s his mom.

 

“Hi honey,” she says. “Just wanted to check in to see you how guys are. Did you find somewhere to stay?”

 

“Yeah, we did,” Connor assures her. “Thanks, uh, for the recommendations. We’re staying at The Trailside Inn. It’s really nice.”

 

“I’m so glad,” says his mom warmly. “I had a feeling you might pick that one. It just sounded like you two.”

 

“Books and trees,” Connor replies with a smile. “We’re getting predictable.”

 

“So when’s your car going to be ready?” Cynthia asks. “And are you going to try to get to Florida?”

 

“They say Monday at the earliest, but there are no guarantees,” Connor explains. “And it turns out that we don’t have a room in Florida anymore, so we figured we’d just… stay here.”

 

There’s a moment of silence and then Cynthia laughs. “I have to admit, sweetheart, a week in a nice quiet small town inn where you can read and go on nature walks really sounds so much more you than a week in Florida on spring break.”

 

Connor can’t bring himself to disagree.

 

They sleep in the next morning and head to the restaurant for a leisurely breakfast. Evan’s a lot more rested, which is good, but it’s making him nervous about the costs involved in their impromptu inn vacation, which is less good.

 

“Isn’t this going to get expensive?” Evan asks, looking at the menu and frowning. “If we’re eating here every day.”

 

“We don’t have to,” Connor points out. “We can head into the city and get groceries and stuff for lunches. And we can find cheaper things to eat in town. But I can cover it. Dad gave me money.”

 

Evan still doesn’t look convinced. “I don’t want to let you pay for everything,” he says firmly. “It’s not fair.”

 

Connor tries not to get frustrated. “I get it,” he says, “but this whole thing is kind of my fault. I should have gotten my car serviced.”

 

Evan looks at him and sighs. “I don’t want this to be an argument,” he says finally. He smirks. “And you’re right. You should have gotten your car serviced.”

 

“I know.”

 

“I did ask you if you had.”

 

Connor rolls his eyes. “I know. I’m an idiot.” He gestures to his plate. “But I’m an idiot with bacon, so… I’m calling this an overall win.”

 

It turns out to be just as well that they’ve booked for the week, because Connor’s car isn’t repaired until Friday morning. They spend the first day together in the reading room, which is quickly becoming one of Connor’s favorite places in the entire universe - the seats are comfortable, it’s sunny but not too warm and there’s a great book collection, which Connor’s looking forward to getting stuck into as soon as he finishes the ones he’s brought with him.

 

Over the week, they fall into a routine where most days Evan goes on a nature walk and Connor reads in the library, with the occasional walk around town and an evening spent at the movie theatre watching Casablanca.

 

Connor joins Evan for exactly one nature walk, realizes he is wearing the wrong shoes and chalks it up to experience. It is cute to see Evan so excited about all the various plants and trees, he has to admit.

 

He likes hearing Evan talk about things he likes.

 

It’s nice.

 

It takes genuinely no time for Connor to finish the books he’s brought with him and pretty soon he’s happily checking out the inn’s collection. He’s in the reading room so often that one of the staff starts bringing him glasses of fresh lemonade and asks him if he wouldn’t mind writing some recommendation cards for books he’d enjoyed.

 

Connor doesn’t see any reason to refuse, so he does what he’s asked.

 

When he tells Evan about it that evening, Evan doesn’t stop smiling for a solid hour.

 

“You’re going to be the best librarian. The best.”

 

On Friday when they get the car back, they go on a little mini road trip. They end up having a picnic near a lake and just spend the afternoon hanging out and enjoying each others’ company.

 

“So this isn’t really what I had in mind for spring break,” Evan says conversationally as they watch the sun set over the lake. Connor’s about to apologize when Evan shoots him a dazzling smile. “It’s way, way better.”

 

They’re both reluctant to leave on Saturday.

 

Connor does the driving on their way back to campus and Evan chooses the music. As they listen to the Beatles, Evan turns to him and smiles.

 

“We should have done spring break years ago,” he says.

 

Connor smiles back. “Definitely.”

* * *

**Late April: Pull a Non-Study Related All-Nighter**

 

As finals loom closer, Evan almost forgets about The List.

 

He’s busy, Connor’s busy, and they’re hurtling toward the end of their senior year like a freight train with no brakes, and Evan’s having a hard time thinking about anything else.

 

But he’s determined to finish The List.

 

And it’s got to be before finals.

 

Since Connor had organized getting the campus tradition ticked off The List, Evan feels like the last item needs to be his responsibility.

 

And he’s drawing a blank.

 

Almost every single other item of the list hadn’t exactly gone as expected. Evan’s still a little embarrassed about them running into Jo at the LGBT Hallowe’en party. They’d completely flipped the whole campus tradition thing on its head. And spring break…

 

Well, spring break had been amazing, but it definitely hadn’t turned out how Evan had expected it to.

 

“Are you free on Friday and Saturday this week?” Evan asks Connor in late April. They’re at the library and Connor’s deep into revisions, kind of muttering to himself, a pen stuck in his messy bun.

 

Connor looks at him, his expression a little shell-shocked. “Uh…”

 

“I know everything’s really crazy,” Evan says in a rush. “It’s just… The List. The last thing on the list is a non-study related all-nighter.”

 

“Right,” says Connor, blinking. “Uh… I can be? I think? Let me check.”

 

He goes through his day planner (which had been a Christmas gift from Alana and is black leather and actually kind of cool), still muttering to himself. “Okay. If I move these things around, I can make it work.” He winces. “It might mean we don’t really see each other between now and then, though.”

 

“That’s fine,” Evan says. “I mean, that makes sense.”

 

“Okay,” says Connor, scribbling furiously in his day planner. “Right. Cool.” He looks at Evan and his expression softens. “Do you need me to, like, bring anything?”

 

Evan shakes his head. “Just you. I’ll get it all organized.”

 

And that’s the end of the conversation.

 

When Friday rolls around, Evan starts to second-guess himself. What if what he’s got planned is super lame and Connor hates it? What if it’s boring and predictable and stupid and…

 

He takes a deep breath.

 

Reminds himself that this is not a productive line of thinking.

 

Reminds himself that he and Connor have been through a lot, and that at the very beginning of this whole thing, Connor had been the one to say that he was completely happy with the way things were.

 

That he had no problem if all they ever did was sit at home, watching TV and eating ice cream.

 

Evan doesn’t need to come with a whole big crazy thing to make Connor happy.

 

Just being together is enough.

 

Connor shows up at his apartment on Friday afternoon and he looks so exhausted that Evan considers calling off the entire thing right then and there in favor of making Connor take a nap.

 

“Are you sure you’re okay to do an all-nighter like this?” Evan asks.

 

Connor nods, a little too enthusiastically. “Yup,” he says. “I’ve got this. We’ve got this.”

 

“Okay,” Evan says, a little hesitantly. “Tom’s spending the weekend at Mateo’s, so we have the place to ourselves.”

 

Connor grins. “Perfect.” He looks at Evan expectantly. “So what’s the plan?”

 

“Well,” says Evan hesitantly, “I figured that after all the craziness and considering that how everything else we’ve done hasn’t gone exactly as planned, that I’d go simple.” He leads Connor to the living room, where he’s set up a blanket fort. “So tonight, we’re going to marathon all the Harry Potter films.”

 

Connor looks at him with a slow smile. “In a blanket fort?”

 

“In a blanket fort.”

 

“Oh my god, I love you so much.”

 

“I’ll order Chinese,” Evan says, “and there are lots of snacks. I’ve got popcorn and ice cream and in the morning we can go and get breakfast, and-”

 

Connor interrupts him by kissing him firmly. Evan responds instinctively, running his hands through Connor’s hair and gently tugging, which results in a moan from Connor that’s more than a little encouraging.

 

It’s barely any time before they find out that it’s possible to have sex in a blanket fort but does take its toll on its structural integrity.

 

Over an hour later, they’ve put the blanket fort back together, they’ve ordered Chinese food and they’re settling in to get started on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. It’s not too long into the film when the doorbell rings and Evan goes to get the food.

 

Evan comes back into the fort to find that Connor’s fast asleep.

 

He considers waking him up, but it honestly feels cruel.

 

Instead, he puts the Chinese food in the fridge, climbs into the fort, closes the laptop and curls up next to his boyfriend.

 

When he wakes up, it’s morning, and Evan honestly feels like it’s the best night sleep he’s had in weeks. He rolls over to see Connor’s waking up, too, and when Connor looks at Evan he sighs loudly.

 

“Fuck, I’m so sorry,” Connor says, his voice scratchy with sleep. “I fucked up the last bit of The List-”

 

“Fuck The List,” Evan says firmly.

 

Connor blinks a few times then moves closer to Evan. “We could try again tonight?” he suggests. “I’ve only got… fuck, I’ve got way too much to do on Sunday.”

 

“Fuck The List,” Evan repeats. Connor looks confused, and Evan continues. “Nothing else on The List really worked out exactly as we’d planned, so I think this still counts as our all-nighter.”

 

“Yeah, but… we fell asleep.”

 

“We were together all night,” Evan points out.

 

Connor rolls his eyes. “Now you’re changing the rules.”

 

“We made the rules. We can do what we like with them.” Connor still looks unconvinced, so Evan does his best to convince him. He pulls Connor close to him and kisses him gently. “The whole point was to spend time with you,” he says between kisses. “And that’s exactly what I did. So… well done us, we finished The List.”

 

Connor pulls Evan on top of him and kisses him even harder.

 

The blanket fort collapses around them, yet again.

 

“It’s a good thing neither of us are studying architecture,” Connor says from under the blankets, and Evan can’t help but laugh.

 

They manage to escape the piles of blankets and pillows with a bit of manoeuvring. Once they’re out, Evan reaches over to brush Connor’s hair off his face and kisses him again.

 

“Thank you,” Evan says softly as he pulls apart.

 

“What for?”

 

“All of it,” Evan tries to explain. “The costume party and the tree rescue and spring break and… just humoring this stupid list.”

 

“It wasn’t stupid,” Connor replies immediately. “It was fun.” His ears go a little pink and he ducks his head a little. “You have to know by now that I’d pretty much do anything for you.”

 

Evan can’t even begin to explain how that makes him feel.

 

It’s like the entire sun is shining on his face.

 

He pulls Connor toward him and they fall back on what remains of the blanket fort.

 

As Connor’s hands tug at the edges of Evan’s shirt, Evan thinks to himself that structural integrity is completely overrated.

 

And that he’s definitely finishing senior year with no regrets. 


End file.
